Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 19,394,502 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,150,268,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.56% of Gilead Sciences at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,359 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $215,000. XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 76.8% in the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 9,156 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after buying an additional 3,976 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 94.6% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 45,750 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,126,000 after buying an additional 22,240 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 6.3% in the first quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,434 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $833,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.23, for a total value of $313,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 154,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,354,922.65. This represents a 1.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.86, for a total value of $3,524,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 107,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,491,310.98. This trade represents a 20.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 115,146 shares of company stock worth $14,012,141 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on GILD shares. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $143.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.65.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $127.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $88.57 and a one year high of $128.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $119.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.34. The company has a market capitalization of $158.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.42 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.050-8.250 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 48.99%.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines in the areas of unmet medical need in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/ Eviplera, Stribild, Sunlencs, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of COVID-19; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis.